Amon Amarth w/Support @ Vicor Street, Dublin

Epic night of metal right here and my first assignment for Valkyrian Music so I was very excited about this! The night was not just anticipated by me but the entire Dublin metal scene as it was Amon Amarth’s first time to bring their stage show with them. I had never heard Grand Magus or In Solitude before the night and I was very surprised by both bands they both had some seriously good tunes and they put on a great show. It was the second night of the tour and the bands seemed very confident on stage as the first date jitters had worn off it seems.

In Solitude were the opening act and they really played a blinder, they’re blend of black and old school metal was really interesting and they set the stage for a really good night. They could come off a little cheesy at times though and the vocals were far too low in the mix and that is one of their selling points I feel cause the style of vocals are very alluring. Also, what was with the dead fox? But quality songs and great stage presence combined made for an awesome set!

Grand Magus were on next and they’re something else! Soaring, powerful vocals with epic sounding songs without even a hint of power metal except some song titles, “Hammer of The North” for one, just good old Heavy Metal! They started a little shakey but pulled it together very quickly and delivered a very entertaining set and they truly looked like they were having the time of their lives! They did get a little samey over the course of the set though.

And the headliners, Amon Amarth, they have made quite a name for themselves over the years so we all really knew what to expect from them. They played the best part of an hour and a half which consisted of old faithfuls (The Pursuit of Vikings) and some newer tracks (Death In Fire) but they never relented and even the slower tunes never dropped the intensity. Any issues with the levels or sound were gone now and it was now crystal clear. I don’t think they made one mistake all night, and it being very close to St Patrick’s day in Dublin any crowd interaction went down really well. They had their stage complete with glowing ruins and the drum riser was massive and they had some pretty epic set pieces on it. A lot of Amon Amarth songs recently have guest guitarists playing solos and here is what annoyed me, they can’t do them live. They give them their best shot but never seem to pull them off convincingly. Other than that minor problem they really gave a 110% and it looked like they really had a blast. Epic gig, epic bands great night!